Our Bus, Our Home

[eyedeal.ink]

Originally Posted by Ponyracer

One question, any chance of doing a start to finish "how-to" of the shower?

Thanks, as far as the shower goes, started with 2x2 framing, insulated with rigid insulation and covered sides and back with with backed fiberboard (1/8" stuff). This allowed for a curved backing and somewhere solid for caulking, it also furred out to the shower pan thickness. Shower pan was set on the metal floor after adding a sheet of plastic and some cement (before the cement set up I got in the shower and screwed it into the framing, body weight helps distribution). Once the cement cured up I filled the remaining gaps underneath with spray stuff.

Then the wood, starting with a larger board at the bottom, 1x8 I believe, sitting on a fat bead of silicone caulking, back board first. I believe we taped the bottom edge of the face of this board if I remember, in order to keep from getting any silicone on the board face, it's a mold release, meaning epoxy doesn't stick to it. I think we bought something like 12 or 15 cedar 1x4 tongue and groove boards and several packages of these cedar planks http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-14 ... /202106509 for the ceiling (more height, easier to curve). Boards were installed with tongue facing upwards and a bead of silcone fills the voids and all edges of the boards except the front edges of the side boards. Careful not to use too much silicone that it oozes out into the groove. Installing the boards in the back first as you go locks them in place and guarantees no buckling and each board is nailed in the groove into each frame member with a finish nail (this shower wood be a major bitch to remove). Used a jig saw and a belt sander, compound miter saw would have been really nice Hole for the controls and shower head cut with jigsaw and hole saw (go slow).

Then the coating: 2 coats of this stuff: http://www.smithandcompany.org/CPES/ we purchased from these guys: http://www.rotdoctor.com/products/cpes.html

Then fill the grooves flush with the boards with http://www.westsystem.com/ss/207-special-clear-hardener , http://www.westsystem.com/ss/105-epoxy-resin/ and woven roving http://img.diytrade.com/cdimg/1577448/2 ... Roving.jpg pulled into strands (roving). This was a chore, paint on some epoxy, add the strip, coat the strip, babysit runs. Temp must be 70's , 80's works better. Three strands of roving per groove. Each strand wraps side front to middle back and then each of the two vertical seams in the back are done, then repeat the process. This insures that the walls are smooth and corners are round in the final product. It also provides a solid wire frame that will hold the boards in place and completely fills the seams between boards (steamproof, kinda). After this the entire shower was sanded with coarse grit sandpaper without getting down to the wood.

Then we clothed the entire shower using this stuff http://www.acehardware.com/product/inde ... pla_955442 and more West Systems epoxy and clear hardener, this part was not fun. Get the wall wet with epoxy and let it sit for 10-12 minutes (don't wait too long), add the cloth, immediately wet it and wet out the next section, etc. Once clothed the entire shower was coated with two more coats of epoxy then sanded smooth and topcoated two more times. You gotta recoat this stuff within so long or else you have to sand it. Rule is if you can scratch it with your finger you're safe, otherwise you have to sand it.

Plumb with pex and brass fittings, etc. Now we're adding aluminum trim that we had fabricated at the local metal shop, a piece of 2x3 angle for the sides (top to bottom) and a 2x1/2x2 "z" shaped piece for the ceiling. These will be sealed with rubber weather stripping and silicone caulking when installed. Also, still need to add a final bead of caulking between shower pan and fiberglassed wood, first bead was just to make certain the the wood has adequate spacing form the pan.

Hope this helps, it was a lot of work, we hope it holds up.

[Ponyracer]

Originally Posted by eyedeal.ink

Thanks, as far as the shower goes, started with 2x2 framing, insulated with rigid insulation and covered sides and back with with backed fiberboard (1/8" stuff). This allowed for a curved backing and somewhere solid for caulking, it also furred out to the shower pan thickness. Shower pan was set on the metal floor after adding a sheet of plastic and some cement (before the cement set up I got in the shower and screwed it into the framing, body weight helps distribution). Once the cement cured up I filled the remaining gaps underneath with spray stuff.

Then the wood, starting with a larger board at the bottom, 1x8 I believe, sitting on a fat bead of silicone caulking, back board first. I believe we taped the bottom edge of the face of this board if I remember, in order to keep from getting any silicone on the board face, it's a mold release, meaning epoxy doesn't stick to it. I think we bought something like 12 or 15 cedar 1x4 tongue and groove boards and several packages of these cedar planks http://www.homedepot.com/p/Unbranded-14 ... /202106509 for the ceiling (more height, easier to curve). Boards were installed with tongue facing upwards and a bead of silcone fills the voids and all edges of the boards except the front edges of the side boards. Careful not to use too much silicone that it oozes out into the groove. Installing the boards in the back first as you go locks them in place and guarantees no buckling and each board is nailed in the groove into each frame member with a finish nail (this shower wood be a major bitch to remove). Used a jig saw and a belt sander, compound miter saw would have been really nice Hole for the controls and shower head cut with jigsaw and hole saw (go slow).

Then the coating: 2 coats of this stuff: http://www.smithandcompany.org/CPES/ we purchased from these guys: http://www.rotdoctor.com/products/cpes.html

Then fill the grooves flush with the boards with http://www.westsystem.com/ss/207-special-clear-hardener , http://www.westsystem.com/ss/105-epoxy-resin/ and woven roving http://img.diytrade.com/cdimg/1577448/2 ... Roving.jpg pulled into strands (roving). This was a chore, paint on some epoxy, add the strip, coat the strip, babysit runs. Temp must be 70's , 80's works better. Three strands of roving per groove. Each strand wraps side front to middle back and then each of the two vertical seams in the back are done, then repeat the process. This insures that the walls are smooth and corners are round in the final product. It also provides a solid wire frame that will hold the boards in place and completely fills the seams between boards (steamproof, kinda). After this the entire shower was sanded with coarse grit sandpaper without getting down to the wood.

Then we clothed the entire shower using this stuff http://www.acehardware.com/product/inde ... pla_955442 and more West Systems epoxy and clear hardener, this part was not fun. Get the wall wet with epoxy and let it sit for 10-12 minutes (don't wait too long), add the cloth, immediately wet it and wet out the next section, etc. Once clothed the entire shower was coated with two more coats of epoxy then sanded smooth and topcoated two more times. You gotta recoat this stuff within so long or else you have to sand it. Rule is if you can scratch it with your finger you're safe, otherwise you have to sand it.

Plumb with pex and brass fittings, etc. Now we're adding aluminum trim that we had fabricated at the local metal shop, a piece of 2x3 angle for the sides (top to bottom) and a 2x1/2x2 "z" shaped piece for the ceiling. These will be sealed with rubber weather stripping and silicone caulking when installed. Also, still need to add a final bead of caulking between shower pan and fiberglassed wood, first bead was just to make certain the the wood has adequate spacing form the pan.

Hope this helps, it was a lot of work, we hope it holds up.

Awesome! Great job, I'm sure it will hold up for ALONG time.

[eyedeal.ink]

Originally Posted by sojourner

I really like the body color. Lori and I have been considering that color as well. What kind of paint and number did you use (if you don't mind sharing)? We're either going with something like that or finding a color that blends in better while boondocking (something like coyote tan with a shade toward olive drab). We don't want to grab too much attention either way, (too flashy or obviously trying to hide kinda thing).

Thank you. We spent a couple years getting the color picked out, my grandfather had a 1969 Ford pickup that was painted Caribbean Turquoise and we thought it would make a nice classy color for the bus. We went to Radda Paint here in Longview and brought them a piece of turquoise duct tape that came from a roll our daughter had. Radda couldn't match the tape, said it was too shiny, so we went to the paint chip samples they had and picked out something similar, not green and not blue, green up against blue and blue against green. The color we settled on was darker than we wanted so we had them lighten it a step. Don't have a number (we'll have to look at the paint cans when we get back up there, bus is up the road a few miles at the folks') but the color is called "soothing song", fits us pretty well I think.

[eyedeal.ink]

[bansil]

We used our outside faucet a lot more than I thought we would, at the beach it was perfect for washing feet off before stepping on carpet/grey grass
and filling pots for boils was awesome, no 40 pound pots up and down stairs anymore!!!!

Looks good

[eyedeal.ink]

Originally Posted by bansil

We used our outside faucet a lot more than I thought we would, at the beach it was perfect for washing feet off before stepping on carpet/grey grass
and filling pots for boils was awesome, no 40 pound pots up and down stairs anymore!!!!

Looks good

Thanks buddy!

[browncrown]

Man, looking really nice!!!

[sojourner]

Thanks for the reply. Gonna keep that in mind. I too had a 69 F-100 once. Wish I still had that one. I even owned it when I lived in Shelton and Bellingham (In SC now). We're going to do 4 20lb. propane tanks and I'm working on a design for a roller shelf. Gotta finish the rear stabilizer jacks and grey water tank and then on to propane shelf. Wish we were still up there, we could sure have a lot of fun!!

[sojourner]

I almost forgot, where did you source the locking fuel door? I could use 4 of them for stabilizer jack access.

[eyedeal.ink]

Originally Posted by browncrown

Man, looking really nice!!!

Thanks man, gotta finish adding the mirrors and ladder then we'll get some final paint job pics up.

[eyedeal.ink]

Originally Posted by sojourner

I almost forgot, where did you source the locking fuel door? I could use 4 of them for stabilizer jack access.

Wish, I could use some myself We just removed the old round knob style handle and replaced it with a lock, door was already there.

[eyedeal.ink]

been a while since we posted last, we've since finished up the outside and moved on to installing our waste tanks (just in time for the cold weather). Project has slowed a bit since the weather changed. We ended the summer working nearly everyday to do what we needed before the wet stuff hit, once it starts it keeps coming down (makes me really want to head south). Since then I've had to kick the tattoo biz up a bit in order to purchase some of the more spendy components for the project and we've been slowly getting everything down under prepped with insulation, plumbing (hepvo, vents, etc), and strapping points (first holes we've had to drill in the frame) for the waste tanks. Slowly but surely... will post more pics in the next few days.

[willhitch]

Thanks for sharing everything with your conversion. We are just getting started on ours and had a couple of questions about your floor.

1. What kind of paint did you use to seal up the base before adding the subfloor?

2. We are also planning on putting rigid insulation below the plywood subfloor, but I'm worried that the insulation will collapse if we put the plywood on top of it unsupported. Your photos look like you just put the plywood down on top of the insulation. Has that been a problem for you at all?

Thanks again for sharing! See you on the road!

[eyedeal.ink]

Originally Posted by willhitch

Thanks for sharing everything with your conversion. We are just getting started on ours and had a couple of questions about your floor.

Sorry for the late reply, been a while since we logged on to this site..
1. What kind of paint did you use to seal up the base before adding the subfloor?
We used the same thing on the floor that we used on the roof, elastomeric paint mixed with ceramic beads
2. We are also planning on putting rigid insulation below the plywood subfloor, but I'm worried that the insulation will collapse if we put the plywood on top of it unsupported. Your photos look like you just put the plywood down on top of the insulation. Has that been a problem for you at all?
We put the plywood down directly on the rigid insulation, it won't collapse as long as the plywood distributes the any weight evenly.
Thanks again for sharing! See you on the road!

We've had to slow down on our conversion project a bit due to me getting super busy in the shop in the last couple months (tax return season is my busiest time of the year), saving and planning a vacation that we just returned from and having what we call "bus burnout" (three straight years of this project) but we're back and now it's time to get this this project finished and get on with our goals.

[crazycal]

WOW! Your bus looks super awesome! I haven't looked at your build in a while. Very nice work.

[nat_ster]

Glad to see you back.

Nat

[c_hasbeen]

I am getting close to getting our bus and really learned a lot of great ideas from this marathon read of your build.

thanks for all of the pictures and the time involved to add updates.

[eyedeal.ink]

Cork floor is in, got our refrigerator/freezer, final list for the project is hanging on the side it's nice to see a light at the end of the tunnel. Insurance comes this week (fingers crossed).





Trap door for firewood in the belly storage














generator tray will go here

[eyedeal.ink]

Made her wall window the same height as her window sill so she can put a board across for a table. Just need to finish it off with some velcro and some latches.



Peel and stick tank sensors wired in parallel back to this panel



Found a fridge that fit perfectly, sits on a sheet of aluminum and the piece of flooring in front of it is removable if we ever need to replace it.

[HolyBus]

Love it! That ladder looks like it was built for that bus. Its a perfect fit. Where did you come by that? I have looked at rv ladders but not found one that will look correct with my setup.